


All This And Heaven Too

by nuftda



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternative Universe-Spy, F/F, Fluff, and got into a lot of shit, and now callie has to bail him out, caliborn was a little shit, spy AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-02
Updated: 2014-10-06
Packaged: 2018-02-15 21:29:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2244099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nuftda/pseuds/nuftda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being a spy isn't nearly as fun as the movies make it seem</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Callie shuffled her feet and looked at the door nervously. This job interview was crucial, and she could not afford to mess it up. She’d already been standing there a good few minutes. She knew she had to go in soon, lateness was not a good first impression to make. Gathering her courage she knocked on the door.  
“Come in” Roxy called from her office.

Callie opened the door and stepped into the room, Roxy smiled brightly at her and gestured for her to take a seat.  
“Are you here about the job interview?” She asked Callie. Callie nodded and handed Roxy her CV, praying to the seven heavens she got the job, her brother’s life depended on it.

The interview went better than expected, given how nervous Callie was. Her brother’s life was on the line and she was no spy, yet the Baroness had ordered her to do just that. Spy! On Roxy Lalonde! She honestly could not fathom why. She supposed that being the CEO of the Daily Derse Roxy had a fair amount of influence in the world, but surely not enough to make her a threat.

Callie thought about going to her apartment, but doing that felt wrong. Living her life while her brother was who knows where in an unprecedented amount of danger repulsed her. So she sat on the steps to the office building for hours, tracing the lines in the stone with her eyes.

She had stayed there so long when Roxy Lalonde herself walked past her. Roxy looked down, surprised to see Callie there.  
“Calliope? Why are you still here?”

Callie looked up and smiled slightly, “I just didn’t feel like going home yet, I suppose. Sorry if I’m inconveniencing you here Miss Lalonde, I’ll leave now.”

“What are you apologising for? And please, just call me Roxy; I hate all this formal stuff. Come on I’ll call you a cab. The taxis round here bow to my every wish, I’m sure I can get you a discount.” Roxy offered Callie a hand, and Callie gladly took it.

Roxy waved down a cab and said something quietly to the taxi driver as Callie got in.  
“Thank you, Miss Lalonde, for everything”

Roxy grinned, “It’s my pleasure, Miss Umbra”

Callie closed the door of the cab, smiling slightly as she watched Roxy turn away to get her own cab. This spy mission was going to get a lot more difficult considering she’d just developed a very large crush on the woman whom she was supposed to be spying on.

 

She got back to her flat, she supposed she should call it home, as it would technically be for the foreseeable future, but it just didn’t feel right to call it that, so flat it was. (The Americans called them apartments, but American slang was something she just could not get the hang of no matter how hard she tried.)

She pulled her laptop out of her bag and picked up the envelope which presumably had her instructions written on it. She had been told she would be sent a new letter every day, with new instructions, and once it arrived she was to send the details of what she had found out that day to the address written on there.

She sighed and booted up her laptop. Calliope really didn’t feel comfortable doing any of this but she had been assured that if she didn’t her brother would pay the price, so she got typing.

 

That night she barely slept. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Roxy, or worse, she saw Caliborn. The thoughts continued to plague her as the morning came and went. Her worry for Caliborn agitated her and she had no idea how to feel about Roxy. She couldn’t get attached to her, even if this did all somehow magically go away she would somehow find out that the reason they met was because Callie was spying on her. She was the CEO of a bloody newspaper for gosh sakes! There’s no way she wouldn’t find out.

After a cup of tea and a rerun of an episode of the Great British Bake Off her nerves had calmed some. She decided that sitting around feeling sorry for herself in her flat was not going to do anyone any good, so she made herself somewhat presentable, and left the building.

It was windy out today, but that didn’t concern her as much as it usually would, her wigs had gotten messed up being in with the rest of her luggage, and since this one was already tangled she was quite alright with it getting even more messed up than it already was. She figured she could sort it out later.

She lost herself in the rigid streets of New York. It was so different to the winding alleys of London she was used to, everything was so ordered and planned, and a little disorienting. _I’ll get used to it_ she told herself. After all, she’d have to, if her cover was to be maintained.

She laughed to herself, the way she was thinking was utterly crazy _maintain my cover_ she had no idea when she started thinking like this but whenever it was it happened a little too quickly for her liking. She sighed and decided to head back to her flat. Maybe she’d have an answer about the interview by now, but she didn’t know if she wanted to read that or not. Either way at least it would give her something to report, even if it was bad news.


	2. Chapter Two

Callie stood outside the office building of Derse Daily for the second time, this time though, she was an employee. She smiled, pretty effing pleased with herself that she’d gotten the job.

She went straight to reception where she was given an ID card and a map of the building.  
“Thank you, have a nice day!” She called out to him as she headed to the lift. She always tried to be polite but this was her first day and she really wanted to make a good impression.

Under different circumstances Callie thought she might’ve liked to keep this job after hers was done. She loved anything to do with literature and had even written some short stories of her own, and working for a big newspaper like this could be a great start for her. She knew it would be a bad idea to stick around after though, she’d be putting all these people in danger, and they didn’t deserve that.

The ding of the lift snapped her out of her thoughts and into the bustling offices of the Daily Derse. She made her way towards Roxy’s office, and felt a wave of de ja vu hit her as she knocked on the door once again.

“Come in!” Roxy called brightly.

Callie smiled and took the seat she had two days prior, closing the door behind her and blocking out the noise of the office.

“Thank you, Miss Lalonde, so much, for giving me the job-“ She was going to say more but Roxy cut her off.  
“You don’t need to say anything, I knew the moment you walked in here you were perfect for this position.”

Callie nodded, not entirely sure where to go from there. She knew what she had to do, all that had been explained in the interview, in Roxy’s own words she ‘did all the shit so I don’t have to’.

Roxy reached into her desk drawer and pulled out several files. “These are what my previous PA left behind; they’ve got most of the important stuff in them.” Callie took them; she’d have her work cut out for her today.

“I’ll get Aranea to show you to your office, she’s head of admin and knows literally everything around here. If you’ve got any questions, she’s the one to go to.”

Callie nodded again, just as a woman popped her head through the office door.   
“She’s got like a sixth sense or something too I swear” Roxy continued. “Always knows when to appear.”

Aranea grinned at this “Come on, I’ll show you around” Callie happily got up and followed Aranea, who introduced her to a good ninety five percent of the office, she seemed to know everyone and could talk for England, Scotland and Wales combined if she wanted. Callie didn’t find it annoying though, her constant babble and short anecdotes were entertaining, even if it was clear very few people in the office felt the same way.

Eventually they got to her new office, and Aranea explained in more detail exactly what she was required to do, for which Calliope was grateful. Roxy was nice, but she hadn’t been overly specific when it came to telling her what to do.

Aranea left with a “Call me if you need me” and Calliope settled down to do her work. From her office she could see everyone who went in and out of Roxy’s, unless they happened to arrive through the window. And since her phone was hooked up for her to put through calls to Roxy she could listen in on them easily. She felt extremely guilty about the prospect, but she had to do it, for her brother’s sake.

Her brother could truly be an idiot sometimes. He was headstrong and used his mouth a lot more often than he used his brain. Which is why when he, by some unfortunate series of events, bumped into a man whom was only known as Orphaner Dualscar and he just couldn’t keep his mouth shut. She didn’t know quite what happened after that but he did know that he was the second in command of the elusive Baroness. One thing she did know now was that it was a very bad idea to piss off the second in command of the Baroness.

 

After several days her life at work settled into a comfortable routine. The people here were nice, and she found herself making friends with her co-workers. Deep down she knew this was a bad idea but she just couldn’t bring herself to care. So far Roxy had done nothing to incriminate her in the eyes of the Baroness and so Calliope didn’t feel all that guilty about reporting on her.

That blissful period did not last, but Calliope was glad for it all the same. At least she’d have some fond memories of this place.

It was early in the morning, and barely any of her co-workers were in the office yet, she suspected most of them were probably still in bed, including Roxy. But when someone knocked on her door the familiar “Come in.” reached her ears.

She strained to see who this stranger was, but she couldn’t get a clear view before they stepped into the office.

It was clear that this was the sort thing she was supposed to be reporting on. She needed a way to get into that office pronto. Casting her eyes around the room she spotted the coffee machine. That would do nicely, she knew off by heart the way Roxy liked her coffee now. She debated whether or not to bring coffee for the stranger too but after deliberating she decided against it. It was probably better that she acted as if she hadn’t seen them, plus she didn’t know how they stranger took their coffee.

“Coffee!” She called, knocking on the door and opening it without waiting for a reply. When she saw the stranger she feigned surprise  
“I’m sorry Miss Lalonde, I didn’t know you were in a meeting, I’ll come back later.”  
“Nonsense Callie, just put the coffee down on the table” She turned to her guest, “John, would you like one?”  
“Oh no thank you” the stranger replied “I’m quite alright, I had a lovely breakfast on the way here. Many things about New York must be praised and your breakfast bars are certainly one of them.”

Callie smiled and turned, calling over her shoulder “just call me if you need anything else.” While subtly pressing record on her phone and dropping it into an open cabinet on her way out. She prayed to all the heavens above that no one called her today. Or ever, she was cool with that.

She sat down at her desk shaking slightly, watching Roxy’s office for a good few hours before she finally left so Callie could go in and retrieve her phone. It didn’t occur to her she hadn’t seen John leave, she had been too preoccupied to realise.

After stepping into the office she was startled by a cheery “Hello!” from Roxy’s desk. John was still in here! She panicked slightly, and hoped it wasn’t showing.  
“Oh, hello. I didn’t see you there. I just popped in to fet some giles. I-I mean get some files. Can I get you anything?” John shook his head “A glass of water would be quite nice, thanks.”  
“Certainly” She said, happy for any excuse to get out of that office.

She approached the water cooler and promptly slapped her hand on her face. Gods how could she be so stupid! She filled him a cup and took a deep breath, trying to compose herself, her hands weren’t shaking too badly, and if fate was on her side he wouldn’t notice.

John was in the same place he was when she left. She handed him the plastic cup, grabbed some random files, and got the hell out of there. Her phone could wait.


	3. Chapter 3

Calliope sat on her bed listening to the recording on her phone. She’d managed to finally get it back once everyone, including John and Roxy, had left for the day. Calliope thanked her lucky stars that no one had called or texted her that day.

What she heard on that recording was a complete and utter shock, and she had no idea how she was going to report all this and still maintain a clean conscience, knowing who she was reporting to.

Apparently the woman she knew as the Baroness was more commonly known as the Batterwitch, the mastermind behind Crocker Corp. She had been manipulating the world for years, and had her claws in everything, retail, banking, the government, media, basically anything you can think of, she owned.

Except Derse Daily. This newspaper was one of the only things completely free of her influence, and from what Callie had heard Roxy was prepared to fight tooth and nail to keep it that way.

While more was hinted at, Callie didn’t have enough knowledge about the Batterwitch or Crocker Corp to fully understand it, nor did she want to, it would’ve suited her just fine if she was told to stay as far away from this as possible, but she couldn’t, not just because of Caliborn, but because of Roxy too. If she stopped doing this they might send someone ruthless after Roxy and there was no way she could let that happen. She didn’t know what the Batterwitch’s plans were either, but from the way John and Roxy were talking it couldn’t be good.

She sighed and began the arduous task of typing all this new information out and addressed it to the new email that had been posted through her door this morning. Before sending she read the email over several times, and debated for a long while whether to send it or not. She really didn’t want to, but Caliborn was still in trouble, and she needed to keep him safe. She was his sister, and that’s what sisters do.

 

The next day at work Roxy invited her into her office. Callie was extremely nervous. Had Roxy found out? Was she going to fire her? Would she hate her for spying on her? Callie hoped not, she hoped very much. She’d really grown to like Roxy, and instead of her crush slowly dissipating like her others usually do this one just intensified every time she saw Roxy.

“Hey Callie, do you wanna go out and get some lunch with me?”

This took Callie completely by surprise. She didn’t know what to say. So she just stood there.

“Come on, I know this great little café that do the best breakfast food even at lunch time. The owner’s really friendly; she calls it a café for lazy people. Come on, it’ll be fun!”

“Uhhh, sure, just let me grab my bag.”

Callie darted out of the office and into her own. Was this it? Was Roxy taking her out of the office so as not to make a scene? So she could get rid of Callie with no one knowing? She needed to calm down, really, really needed to calm down. Calliope reminded herself that Roxy would never do anything like that; the Batterwitch is the evil one, not Roxy. It was probably just an innocent lunch date, so breathe Callie, just breathe.

Roxy took her to this hole in the wall café and Callie had to admit, breakfast food at lunch time was a very good idea, and she told Roxy so.

“It is the best idea, and I endorse it one hundred percent. If only they served it with wine” She sighed wistfully.

Calliope found herself having a hard time concentrating after that. Of course she was relieved that Roxy hadn’t taken her out of the office to dump her body in a skip or something there was now the more pressing issue of the fact that _Roxy had taken her out of the office._ To a café. For what can only be described as a lunch date. Callie didn’t know if there were any romantic implications or not but right now she didn’t care. She was sitting opposite one very attractive lady whom she had been harbouring a crush on for many weeks now.

Callie looked up from her food to find Roxy staring at her.  
“Is something wrong?” She asked  
“No, no nothing’s wrong, I was just admiring.”  
“Admiring what?” Callie asked, wondering what could’ve caught Roxy’s attention so brilliantly in this little café.  
“Admiring you.”  
“Oh.” Callie blushed, and blushed hard. She looked down at her plate for lack of anywhere else.

This was bad. And good. Roxy liked her! She actually liked her! But she was bound to find out Callie’s true purpose of being here, and she would hate her for that. So instead of telling her what she really wanted to say she instead asked  
“Is it, um, appropriate, for an employer to say things like that to employees?”

Roxy’s face fell, and so did Callie’s heart. In this moment she hated Caliborn for getting her into this, but then again without him she never would’ve met Roxy. The person she really hated was the Batterwitch. In that moment she decided that despite everything the Batterwitch held over her head she was going to peruse Roxy with everything she had.

“Not that I’m complaining, of course, but is that type of relationship allowed here in America or something?”

Roxy laughed, immediately brightening again. “Not usually, but I employ myself, I can do whatever I want, especially if whatever I want includes admiring my very pretty personal assistant.”

Callie blushed harder, if that were even possible.  
“Well then” Callie began “Will you allow me to say that I’ve been admiring you since the first time I stepped into your office and haven’t stopped since.

Roxy’s grin widened “Only if you’ll allow me to say the same”

Callie nodded, there’s no way in hell she wouldn’t. They continued to eat the rest of their breakfast lunch with huge grins on their faces, glancing up to catch each other’s  eyes and grinning, before turning back to their food.

They walked back to the office hand in hand, and Callie spent the rest of that day happier than she had been in months.


	4. Chapter 4

Several weeks had passed since the breakfast lunch. Calliope had continued reporting on Roxy, enough to keep the Batterwitch placated but not enough to incriminate Roxy. Their relationship was progressing nicely, and Calliope couldn’t be happier. She still felt guilty about her brother, but she figured as long as she continued reporting things of vague importance he should be kept safe. She hoped so at least.

Roxy had invited her to her flat tonight. As Callie expected she lived in the high end part of the city. She had to keep reminding herself that Roxy was the CEO of a very successful newspaper and was in fact rich.

The day passed in a blur, which was fine with Callie. Roxy hailed a cab and they both got in hand in hand. The journey to her apartment didn’t take long; it made sense that Roxy would live somewhere close by, so that she could get to the office quickly if she were needed at short notice.

 

Roxy’s flat was beautiful; it had state of the art everything, and an amazing view. Callie wondered over to the window while Roxy set aside their coats and got out a bottle of wine. Callie wasn’t quite sure how to act, this was completely new to her.  
“It’s a beautiful view from up here” she commented  
“It’s a beautiful view in here too” Roxy said. Callie turned around to catch Roxy wink at her.

Taking the glass of wine Roxy offered her she joined her on the couch. Calliope had had crushes before, but nothing ever really serious. With Roxy it was different. Roxy felt like the sort of person she could wake up and have breakfast with, even if she did still have morning breath. Roxy felt like the sort of person whom she could say meaningless nonsense to and she would listen. Roxy felt like the sort of person Callie would like to spend the rest of her life with.

The evening passed in a pleasant daze. They talked, and talked, and talked. It was wonderful and by the time the moon came out Calliope was sure she was in a dream. All the drama with the Baroness was gone from her mind, there was only Roxy.

Truths was suggested by Roxy, Callie agreed to play, mostly because Roxy was so insistent it was easier to agree.   
“So come on then! Tell me a truth about yourself.”  
“What sort of truth?” Callie asked.   
“Something I’d never guess about you in a million years.”

Callie nodded and shifted her position to face Roxy. She cast her mind around for something fairly tame before saying “I’ve got a twin brother, his name is Caliborn.”  
Roxy grinned “Is he as cute as you are, or did you take all the good genetics for yourself?”

Blushing a little at this Callie prompted Roxy to tell her a secret. “Okay, once I messed up my online supermarket order and ended up eating cereal for a week because I bought lots of that and none of everything else. Now I make someone else do my online shopping.”

Callie burst out into laughter. Roxy seemed so put together at the office but this was a whole other side of her, and Calliope had to say, it suited her quite well.

“heeeeey come on, don’t tell me you’ve never done anything like that.” Still laughing Callie shook her head. She calmed down long enough to say “Nothing that stupid.”

Roxy crossed her arms indignantly. “Fine. What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done?”  
Callie had to think for a moment. “Probably applying for this job.” Grinning she watched as Roxy processed this.  
“Why you little- gah so you’re a smart mouth huh?” Callie smiled again; she wasn’t sure what made her say that. Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was being with Roxy.

“Well believe it or not that’s not the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.” Roxy said “I once got food poisoning because I was too impatient to properly cook chicken, so I vomited all over my old boss and got myself fired. It went everywhere, she had to bin her shoes _and_ her socks. So there, laugh at that you little menace. Now it’s my turn to ask you a truth. What’s something you’ve never done before?”

“I’ve never been kissed.” Callie said before she could stop herself.  
“I can fix that.” Roxy said, leaning forward towards Callie.  
“Oh, okay then.”

Callie closed her eyes as Roxy’s lips met hers. The kiss they shared was wonderful, it was just the right amount of everything, and in that moment Calliope didn’t think it was possible for anyone to be happier than she was right then. The kiss ended and Roxy looked at Callie the way that made Callie never want her to stop.

And then the bubble burst.

“You know, I probably shouldn’t tell you this. Buuuuuuuuuuuuut, ah what the hell. I’m gonna launch an attack on CrockerCorp. IIIIIIIve got a little lady on the inside. And she’s told me everything, I know all their plans and schemes, and Derse Daily is gonna tell the world.” Roxy collapsed on the couch, giggling.

“Oh my.” Callie was panicking, she had no idea what to say. Roxy had just confessed, in complete confidence, something so big that on a normal day she probably wouldn’t have even considered thinking around anyone else.

“You’re not gonna, tell anyone? Right? Coz this is like super big and if it got out before we were ready, well, I’d be royally fucked. And now were the only ones that know, aside from my inside lady. So keep it quiet.”

Calliope shook her head. She couldn’t bring herself to lie out loud. Roxy seemed to take that as a no, but Callie honestly didn’t know if that was a positive thing or not.

“Awesome, you’re the best Callie!” Roxy grinned at her. Callie just nodded, smiling sadly.

The atmosphere was tense for Callie as the evening progressed. She found it hard to even look Roxy in the eye, but Roxy didn’t seem to notice- she was quite tipsy by this point. Eventually Roxy looked like she was about to drop, so it seemed the night ended here.

“Come on you, let’s get you into bed.” Callie stood up and took Roxy by the arms, heaving her up and over her shoulder; Roxy’s hand caught her wig, dragging it down and almost off. She stopped suddenly, and attempted to fix it before Roxy saw. She didn’t want anyone to see her without her wig, not even Roxy.

Roxy, for her part, just plopped down on the floor and started tracing spirals in the carpet. Calliope was relieved, but also concerned, Roxy was incredibly drunk, she wouldn’t have said those things to her under normal circumstances, so did it count as part of the information she was supposed to report? She was told to spy on Roxy at work, this wasn’t work, so it didn’t count. Right?

A loud belch echoed from the corner Roxy was sat in. _Right_ , Callie thought, _loopholes can wait, Roxy comes first._

Dragging Roxy into bed turned out to be a lot harder than the TV shows made it look. Finally, after fifteen arduous minutes, she had successfully gotten Roxy onto her bed. She took the blanket and spread it over her, stroking her hair out of her face before she left the room, shutting the door quietly.

She left a note on the kitchen counter explaining what happened, about how Roxy got a bit drunk and so Callie put her to bed and let herself out. She didn’t tell her she knew about what Roxy had told her, she prayed Roxy would forget. God knows she wanted to.

She left the flat and walked back to hers, head down, not really thinking, just walking. She could think later, for now she just needed to be.


	5. Chapter 5

If the next day hadn’t been her day off Callie would’ve called in sick. Thankfully she had a full day to worry and avoid her problems like a normal well-adjusted adult.

Eventually she decided she would have to start thinking about this whole decibel eventually, so she took a step back and evaluated her situation. If she reported on Roxy she’d most likely be able to leave this job, take her brother and go, but then again, knowing what she knew of the batterwitch, would she really be able to leave that easily, especially knowing all she knew. How did she know she and Caliborn would just be imprisoned forever instead? And what would happen to Roxy? Her career, and her life, would be over: the Batterwitch would win. She couldn’t let that happen. But she couldn’t let Caliborn suffer either.

Callie put her head in her hands, tears slipping unwarranted from her eyes. She was angry, angrier than she had been in a very long time. She slammed her fists down on her desk, and then her head. She tore at her wig in frustration, openly sobbing now.

Time passed, some of it spent crying, some of it spent sitting in silence, too shocked to move. Only shocked out of her revive when a letter plopped through her letter box. Standing up she composed herself and picked it up. It was from the Batterwitch, the next email address.

She didn’t think her emotions could get any lower than they had been but she was apparently wrong. Deciding she needed to get out of this flat and into some fresh air, she grabbed her coat and quickly fixed on a new wig before pocketing the envelope and leaving.

While she wandered the streets she let her thoughts have free reign in her mind. Over her settled an eerie calmness and she walked for quite some time. So long that it was now getting dark. She looked up at the moon and it almost seemed to look back at her. She had always liked the moon; it was there every night without fail. And even on a new moon she knew it was still there, only hiding. She’d always been there for Caliborn, and he for her, in his own, unusual way. In that moment she made her decision, this time she’d be there for Roxy.

The letter found its way into the next bin she passed and she smiled to herself, confident she’d done the right thing. She turned round to head home when she bumped into a large, burly man.

“Hello, Miss Umbra.”

 _Oh shitknickers,_ Callie thought _, this is not good._ “Oh, hello sir. Have we met before?”

The man shook his head “No, but I have been assigned to meet with you, and instruct you on what you are to do next.”

Callie stood her ground “I’m sorry, but could you please tell the Batterwitch I want nothing more to do with her, I have reported enough surely, so if she could let my brother go he and I will be on our way.”

The man grinned. His smile was unsettling and Callie felt a chill worm its way down her spine.   
“You’ll be on your way. After you kill Roxy Lalonde for us.”

Callie shook her head vigorously. “No! I won’t do it.”

He advanced, backing her into the wall. “Little girl. You know what they call me?” She shook her head again “Executioner Darkleer. Now I think you’d better do as instructed and kill Lalonde or there will be more than just her blood on the carpet. Whatever you do, she dies, but you don’t have to.”

Shaking, she was shaking. In her terror she hadn’t realised. The Executioner backed off and turned to leave, before passing her a heavy bag. “This should help you finish your task. Good luck little girl.”

He left, disappearing into the night. Callie sunk to her knees and sat. Wondering how the fuck things could’ve gotten this bad in the space of twenty four hours.

 

Her flat was cold when she got back. Setting the bag on the table she headed straight to her bed. She hadn’t opened the bag, hadn’t wanted to. Right now all she wanted to do was sleep. She would sort all this out in the morning.

 

The morning came, and this was not all sorted out. She looked in the bag, and dropped it in horror. In it there was a gun, and a small box with a note attached to it. There was a horrible feeling in her stomach as she reached into the bag to retrieve the box. There was a letter taped to the side, she opened that and read it first.

_Your brother really is an IDIOT. )(e did manage to get outta )(is c)(ains, Ill give )(im that, but )(e didn’t really t)(ink t)(ings t)(roug)(, as ya mig)(tve guessed. So as a little gift to ya, im sendin ya )(is leg, or rat)(er, w)(ats left of it. )(e cut it off )(imself, so don’t be all up on ma case ‘bout that. So yall better stick to what I told ya to do, and t)(e rest of your brot)(er will come back w)(ole. You can guess w)(atll happen if ya fail to come t)(roug)( for me. An you can trust me to keep ma word._

_-)(IC_  

Callie opened the box and almost dropped it in shock. It was a toe. A fucking toe. She held back her disgust and vomit as the realisation hit her. It was Caliborn’s toe. Briefly she wondered what had happened to the rest of the leg that was mentioned in the letter, but then she realised she was probably better off not knowing.

After the initial shock faded she had a severed toe to deal with, it was going to start to smell soon, so she supposed she should refrigerate it? It’s not like she could just throw it out. Well she supposed she could, but it just wouldn’t feel right. She found a sandwich bag and put the toe in there, walking quickly to the fridge before stowing it in the corner away from all her food. The toe could be dealt with later.

She couldn’t fathom how the Batterwitch had found out she hadn’t reported what she knew. Did she have someone spying on her too? Was this all just a game to her? From what she now knew of her she wouldn’t be surprised if that were true.

She went back over to the bag, intending to bin it, but then she remembered the gun. She picked it up and weighed it in her hands. This could be used to kill someone. This could be used to kill anyone. And they wanted her to kill Roxy with it. There was no way she could do that. No way in heaven or hell.

Just then her laptop beeped. She set down the gun carefully, she knew the basics but she did not want it to go off accidentally. A new email had just been sent and it was labelled ‘An Extra Incentive’ With shaking hands she opened it. A video played- A video of Caliborn.


	6. Chapter 6

“Roxy?” Callie tapped the wall nervously as she waited for Roxy to reply. The phone in her hand was already getting sweaty, and she was having trouble holding onto it with the way she was shaking.

“Yeah?”

“Well I was just wondering if you wanted to come round to my place today, after what happened I thought we should probably talk it through and stuff.” Callie was surprised at how calm she sounded; considering on the inside she was no nervous her nerves had nerves.

“Sure thing Callie! I’ll be round just as soon as I finish up some paperwork here.” Roxy hung up the phone without leaving time for Calliope to say anything else. It also didn’t leave time for Calliope to consider the oddness of what Roxy just said, Roxy never did paperwork, that’s why she hired Callie.

Callie waited for Roxy, getting increasingly more nervous as the minutes passed. She kept running through ever possible scenario that could happen, but each time she got to the part where she was supposed to fire the gun she blanked. She was not certain that when the moment came she would be able to do it. She wasn’t sure whether she was pleased about that or not. Almost half an hour had gone before the doorbell rang, making her jump. She got up off the sofa and quickly stashed the gun given to her by the batterwitch in a drawer in her coffee table.

“Roxy!” Calliope forced herself to smile as she greeted her, even though on the inside she was the farthest thing from happy. She hoped to God her nerves didn’t show. “Come in, sit down. I’ll put the kettle on.”

Roxy smiled back and followed Callie back into her flat. “I’ve just realised I’ve never been to your place before, it’s really nice, very cosy.” It was cosy, it was everything one would expect of Callie. There was a beautiful handmade quilt draped over the sofa, and flowers on every windowsill available. In the short time she’d been here it seemed Calliope had managed to make this place her home.

“Why thank you!” Callie called from the kitchen, emerging with two cups of tea, one of which she handed to Roxy, the other she took a sip from as she sat down.

Roxy did the same, angling herself so she was facing Callie sitting on the sofa. “So you wanted to talk.” Calliope nodded, that was one of the things she liked about Roxy Lalonde, she was quick and down to business, which would make this easier. She’d probably lose her nerve if she had to wait any longer.

“Yeah, I said some stuff I really shouldn’t have, knowing even half or what I told you puts you in serious danger Callie. If anyone found out you knew then there’s really nothing I could do to protect you.” Roxy looked so worried. The horrible feeling in her stomach had increased so much it was all she could do not to think about it. Callie took another sip of her tea before replying.

“I’m already in danger Roxy. The batterwitch knows, and she has my brother, which is why I have to do this.” Feigning reaching for a coaster to put her mug on Callie instead pulled out the gun, setting the mug aside. She pointed it at Roxy, trying her best to quell her shaking hands. “I’m so sorry Roxy, I’m so so sorry.”

Roxy was absolutely shocked. It was obvious this was the last thing she expected. She got up and moved away from Callie, but there was nowhere to go, and she didn’t want to back herself into a corner. Callie was looking down the barrel of the gun directly at her, and Roxy met her stare. At the same time she slipped her hand into her pocket and felt for her phone, pressing what she really hoped was her emergency call button.

Tears were openly running down Calliope’s face now. “I’m sorry Roxy I’m sorry but I have to do this. My brother will die if I don’t.”

Nodding, Roxy held her hands out in front of her. “I understand Callie, I really do. I’m just sorry the Batterwitch got to you before I could help you. I won’t hold this against you, I promise.”

That was the complete opposite of what Calliope had expected to hear, and it threw her off completely. “You’ll what? Why?”

Roxy took a deep breath “Because I know you Callie. I know you’re not a bad person and I trust you. Just promise me you’ll do one thing for me.”

Callie nodded “Anything.”

“When you’ve got your brother back and he’s safe, go to Derse Daily and blow this story wide open. Make sure the world knows, and then make yourselves scarce. You and your brother deserve to live your life, and I want to give you two that chance.”

The gun in Callie’s hands was still shaking, and still pointing at Roxy. Her arms were starting to ache from being so taught with nerves, only adrenalin was keeping them up at this point.

“I’ll do it Roxy, I promise you.”

“That’s all I ask.” Roxy lowered her head and closed her eyes.

The doorbell rang.

Calliope fired the gun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know ive been updating p regularly so far through this fic, but depending on how this week goes i might need to take a little break, it won't be for longer than two weeks though. (its mostly school stress+preparing for comicon) but i assure you all this whole plot is planned out its just a case of writing and refining it. Hopefully i can update next week but if not i will be back a fortnight after. Thank you all for being patient with me!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm planning to update this fic weekly, there will be more characters and parings, ill add those to the tags as they appear : D


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